Shilpakala Academy suspends all events, exhibitions indefinitely

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy has suspended all its events and exhibitions for an indefinite period, citing the state mourning over Osman Hadi's death and unavoidable circumstances.

The decision was announced in a post published on the Academy’s official Facebook page on Friday (December 19).

The post said that Chief Adviser of the interim government Dr. Muhammad Yunus, in an address to the nation, declared a state mourning on Saturday (December 20) following the death of Shaheed Sharif Osman bin Hadi. In view of the state mourning day and unavoidable reasons, all programmes and exhibitions of the Academy have been suspended from Friday until further notice.

Sharif Osman Hadi, spokesperson of the Inqilab Mancha, died on Thursday night (December 18) at around 9:45pm while undergoing treatment at Singapore General Hospital. After news of his death reached Dhaka, tensions spread in several areas, leading to incidents of vandalism and arson. Offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star were set on fire, while cultural organisation Chhayanaut was vandalised.

Earlier, on December 12, Sharif Osman Hadi was critically injured after being shot by assailants firing from a moving motorcycle while he was participating in a public outreach programme in the Bijoynagar area of the capital. He was first taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with a gunshot wound to the head. After surgery, he was shifted to a private hospital in Dhaka and later flown to Singapore by air ambulance for advanced treatment.